At first, I must admit, I was a bit skeptical as to whether I would like this book. However, right out of the gate, in the preface, I read an idea that I had contemplated on my own many times before. The exact words are as follows:

"I don’t know how I survived; I was weak, rather shy; I did nothing to save myself. A miracle? Certainly not. If heaven could or would perform a miracle for me, why not for others more deserving than myself? It was nothing more than chance" (vii-viii).    

     This quote deals directly with the concept of miracle versus chance. Humans always have and always will attempt to explain the unexplainable. We try to make sense of a world that is so much greater than any of us. Often times, the accepted explanation deals with religion. Based on this quote, it seems the author shares the same opinion as myself. I am not a very religious person and I tend to think of things more scientifically. And crediting Wiesel’s survival with chance is certainly the more scientific explanation. I am by no means rejecting the idea that, for those who believe in such a thing, a higher power was involved. My personal opinion on the matter is just that, an opinion. I could go on and on about religion but for the purposes of this assignment, I will not. I do, however, have one more thought; most of the time, religion is a tool used by humans in an attempt to explain the unexplainable. Sometimes, miraculous events are not miracles at all. Instead, they are brought about by chance merely because the statistical possibility dictates it.

     One last observation I would like to add is how horrified I was at some of the descriptions of the gross demonstrations of anti-Semitism seen or heard about by the author. One scene affected me particularly strongly. The book says, “Infants were tossed into the air and used as targets for the machine guns” (6). I would also like to point out that this description came very early in the book and there are multiple other instances that left a shocked look on my face throughout the first three chapters. I can only imagine how much worse it will get. The picture that flashes into your head as you read this is completely horrifying and I was shocked when I read it.